Symantec Corp. has announced that starting today its anti-virus technology will scan all e-mail file attachments sent and received via Yahoo! Mail.

As part of the agreement, Symantec's anti-virus technology will be integrated into Yahoo! Mail and will instantly clean any infected attachments. In addition, Yahoo! Mail can also notify the sender that he or she sent an infected attachment.

JOEL'S OPINION
I love the fact that Yahoo! chose Symantec to partner with. I've been a fan of Symantec for a long time now and swear by many of its products. In addition, I'm also a user of its anti-virus program and update my virus definitions regularly.

With this new agreement, users of Yahoo! Mail can feel safe knowing that Symantec's anti-virus software is working for them for free.

My favorite feature is the ability to have Yahoo! Mail send an e-mail to the sender informing him/her that the file just sent was infected. This is definitely a great feature and should stop the spreader in his/her tracks.

I'm not sure if HotMail already has some sort of anti-virus integrated but I'm sure it will shortly.